


A Beginner's Duet

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M, Playing instruments, Prompt Fill, abuelita lives y'all, because i fucking say so, bingo prompt, fluffy as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:46:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: Turns out, Sonny and Rafael both play the piano.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 61
Collections: April 2020 Barisi Bingo





	A Beginner's Duet

The first time Sonny goes over to Rafael's for dinner, he is surprised by the upright piano tucked into the corner of the living room. "You play?"

"Not a lot recently," Rafael replies as he brings over two glasses of wine. He hands one to Sonny, then lightly touches the closed lid of the piano. "I took lessons as a kid. My father hated it, but Abuelita paid for them and told him when he was paying, he got to say if they happened or not."

Sonny smiles softly. "I know this is only our third date, but it's okay I'm already excited to meet her, right?"

Rafael smiles in return. "I'd be worried if you weren't," he says. He raps his knuckles on the lid of the piano and cocks his head. "Do you play?"

"Good Catholic boy like me? Of course I do." Sonny looks at the piano, then at Rafael. "You got music? I can play something while we wait for the food to get here."

"Really?"

"Sure. Just promise you won't be disappointed if I hit the wrong notes."

Rafael chuckles quietly and bends down to open the piano bench. There are stacks of books and sheet music. "Take your pick."

Sonny hands Rafael his wine and crouches down to look through his options. He pulls out a worn copy of _First Piano Duets_ and turns to Rafael with a fond smile. "I remember this one! Me and Bella about wore it out." He stands and carefully opens the book, flipping a few pages, then he looks at Rafael, eyes bright with an idea. "Play with me."

"What?"

Sonny gestures to the book, then the piano. "Come on. Play with me."

"I'm out of practice," Rafael protests.

"So what?" Sonny replies, closing the bench with one hand. He sets the duet book on the piano, open to the song he's picked. "Come on. It's beginner duets. You can't screw it up, and if you do, so what. It'll be fun."

Rafael turns and sets their wine glasses on an end table. "Okay," he says quietly.

Sonny scoots to make room for him on the bench. "You want part one or part two?"

"Part two," Rafael says.

"Great," Sonny replies. He stretches his hands a little, then places them on his half of the keyboard. When he turns to ask Rafael if he's ready, he stops short. Rafael's looking down at the keyboard, his whole face radiating a quiet contentment that Sonny's never seen before. "You love it, don't you?" he asks quietly. 

Rafael nods slowly. "I'd go to Abuelita's a few times a week to practice. Her piano was second- or third-hand, and it was always a little out of tune, but I didn't care because I just liked it so much. Abuelita would tell me stories about all my relatives who played piano or sang or danced. It's why she wanted me to learn. They couldn't be with us in America, but the music could. We could keep that small piece of them."

Sonny reaches across the keyboard and takes Rafael's hand. "Thank you," he says, pressing a kiss to Rafael's knuckles. 

"For what?" Rafael asks, giving Sonny a confused look. 

"For telling me that story," Sonny replies, letting go of Rafael's hand. "I like knowing this sort of stuff about you."

Rafael looks down at the piano again. "I know I'm not an open book."

"I don't need you to be," Sonny says. He leans just enough to press his shoulder to Rafael's own. "I like you exactly as you are. It's why I'm here." When Rafael lifts his head to look at him, Sonny steals a brief kiss. "Come on," he says, tapping a key to send a note through the room. "Play with me."

"Okay," Rafael replies. He smiles and leans towards Sonny for a moment before sighing out a breath seeming to relax from head-to-toe. "Let's play."


End file.
